INTERPOL officials have been given the "green light" to extradite two Hong
Kong residents being held on immigration trafficking charges, Cambodia's Interpol
chief said January 21.
The Interpol chief said approval had come from the "top level" of the Interior
Ministry on the same day detectives from Hong Kong's Organized Crime and Triad Bureau
(OCTB) arrived in Phnom Penh.
Three OCTB detectives arrived Jan 21 to investigate the case of Chan Hak So and Chan
Yuichun, alleged to be ringleaders in an international network smuggling illegal
immigrants from China to the US and Europe via Cambodia.
"If the Hong Kong police ask to take them back, we don't want to keep them here
because we do not have the money to feed them," said General Skadavy M Ly Roun,
head of Cambodia's Interpol office.
General Skadavy said the lack of an extradition treaty between the two countries
was "no problem" and nor was a scheduled trial for the two suspects an
obstacle.
"We can compromise on this matter ... in July Hong Kong will belong to China
and Cambodia already has an extradition treaty with China," said Skadavy.
The two Hong Kong residents were arrested in a Christmas Day raid at a Phnom Penh
villa by Cambodian Interpol officers, along with 83 illegal Chinese aliens.
The two men are being held in T3 prison with other suspected ringleaders, Chen Si
Tong and Dong Rong, both Chinese nationals, also arrested on charges of organizing
entry of illegal immigrants and passport forgery.
At press time General Skadavy said he expected his Hong Kong counterparts to request
extradition, however OCTB Senior Inspector Martin Richardson appeared willing to
support a Cambodian trial for the two suspected traffickers.
"If they have committed an offense in Cambodia they should go to prison here
first and then later they can be sent to Hong Kong where we can deal with them later,"
said Richardson.
Hong Kong police believe Chan Yuichun and Chan Hak So are central figures in a sophisticated
human smuggling syndicate which has seen thousands of mainland Chinese illegally
shipped to the US and Europe.
